Taking a cue from iFest‘s selection of the Caribbean as its honored region, gala chair Danielle Ellis and co-chairs Alison Ayres Bell and Holly Montalbano transported the sellout crowd to a tropical paradise. Whether greeting new arrivals with steel drums provided by Steel Vibrations, parading guests into the ballroom carnival style or tempting auction bidders with trips to Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados and Aruba, this tropic-minded trio gunned for a gala that felt like a getaway.

Another cause for celebration: Mayor Annise Parker presented her first Mayor’s award for service to the arts in Houston to Robert Sakowitz.